Our 3 year old Ddog very likely has cancer. Beyond devastated.

[ItBurns]

Hi,

So Friday afternoon I got the call that nobody wants. Our vet asked me to pull over, as I was driving with hands free and she wanted my full attention. Right away I knew it must be bad.

They've found what they strongly suspect is a tumour in her bladder. She said it could be something less sinister, but she's fairly certain it's bad news. She also said how incredibly rare this is in a dog of her age.

I basically haven't stopped crying since then. Feeling utterly drained and I just can't seem to get my head around it.

She's still a pup. Bouncy and full of life and of course, mischief.

We have already made the decision that if it is that, we won't go down the chemo route. We don't want to put her through all that for a few more painful months, but then I suddenly realised that with covid, we probably won't be allowed in with her when she's being PTS and I can't bear it, quite honestly.

If she was an old dog, I think I could accept it. I would still of course be mortified, but at least she'd have had a full life. This just seems so wrong. We also have another dog who will miss her to pieces. It breaks my heart.

I suppose I'm just posting for a bit of moral support. I need to find my strength from somewhere. This is likely going to be an incredibly difficult few months...or weeks

I would definitely be having the tumour removed / biopsied before any long term decision was made , however experienced a vet is you can’t tell what kind of tumour it is on the basis of a scan . Hopefully it will turn out to be something treatable .

Itburns, he went in for xrays as he had cystitis symptoms and was leaking bloody urine, the vet recommended euthanasia and we did it the same day. It was a huge shock as we expected bladder stones as a worst case scenario. It was many years ago though and treatments may well have improved since he had it.

@Floralnomad, we will definitely wait for biopsy results before making any final decisions, of course, but it looks like this kind of tumour is very difficult to remove, given it's usual, awkward location, so even after surgery, the outcome it generally very poor. It apparently also doesn't respond to chemo well at all, from what I read, so if the vets prediction is right, it will likely be a rapid decline

I was under the impression that in a scan, they can see certain characteristics - shape, density maybe, which can heavily indicate what kind of lump or mass they're looking at. Obviously it's not a diagnosis, but not far off. This was what I thought.

Still no results. This is agony and we're still right at the beginning of the road.

[quote ItBurns]@Floralnomad, we will definitely wait for biopsy results before making any final decisions, of course, but it looks like this kind of tumour is very difficult to remove, given it's usual, awkward location, so even after surgery, the outcome it generally very poor. It apparently also doesn't respond to chemo well at all, from what I read, so if the vets prediction is right, it will likely be a rapid decline

I was under the impression that in a scan, they can see certain characteristics - shape, density maybe, which can heavily indicate what kind of lump or mass they're looking at. Obviously it's not a diagnosis, but not far off. This was what I thought.

Still no results. This is agony and we're still right at the beginning of the road.[/quote]
Not really. Tumours often shed cells in the urine so this is one of the standard tests but even then isn't definitive and whilst tumours fo often occur in specific locations, ultrasound can't definitively diagnose benign from malignant disease.
You really need a biopsy to be sure as benign tumours, or polyps as a result of chronic infection are possible.

Hoping for the best for you OP - this is a terrible time.

Keep in mind that it is easier to tell you the worst and then correct it to something better. rather than have to do this the other way around.

Vets and Doctors tend to present the worst case for this reason.
(There is still hope.)

This happened to my dog. I can’t even begin to write about it as, six months on, I still can’t bear his loss.

My dog had a limp and kept weeing, and investigation showed a sarcoma. I made the decision to have him put down straightaway, as with this diagnosis an animal can go downhill very fast and I wouldn’t allow him to suffer for a moment. Even had it been operable, or chemotherapy had been an option, you can’t tell a dog, “Chin up, mate, this will be over eventually and you’ll feel better.”

One grain of comfort I found on MN was someone saying, re putting down, “Better a week too early than a day too late.”

@Veterinari, thank you for that. I'm reluctant to allow myself any hope, but that's still good to hear.

@1WildTeaParty, thank you.

@IrmaFayLear, oh I'm so sorry I hope reading this hasn't been too upsetting for you. How old was your boy?

Still nothing. I wouldn't necessarily expect results back so quickly, but the vet did say she'd get them back over the weekend. I understand with such a covid induced backlog, things are bound to be delayed. Still torture though.

My lovely dog was 6. He was as mad as a box of frogs and people used to think he was a puppy.

What sort of dog is she, ItBurns? Apologies of you’ve already said and I missed it.

@IrmaFayLear, aww, snap. Mine always gets mistaken for a puppy. Well, she's not far off, but people often think she's 6 months or so. We always said she'd be one of those dogs that didn't calm down until right at the very end. Didn't dream that could be before she even reached 4 😔

She's a lab x cocker. What was yours?

Golden retriever. He missed the memo that he was supposed to be calm... or do anybody retrievIng !

any that is ! My autocorrect is going insane, lately.

@IrmaFayLear I always wanted a golden retriever. Such lovely dogs.

I'm so sorry. One of my dogs had chemo last year and he did really well on it. I was expecting him to be really poorly but he wasn't at all. The vets gave us tablets in case he was nauseous but honestly you wouldn't have known there was anything going on. It's not like human chemo. The vet told us that they do not dose dogs to the same extent as people because they wouldn't understand why they were feeling so ill. So don't rule it out if that's why you were concerned. He was always perfectly happy going in for his chemo whereas at the normal vets he would be worried and whiny in the waiting room so it wasn't a stressful experience for him.

Fingers crossed for you and your dog

@Sunnydaysstillhere I’m so sorry, reading about everyone’s dogs is so sad xx

Just read your thread @ItBurns, stay positive for the time being.
Last April my girl was diagnosed with Stage 2 Mast cell cancer at 7, our wonderful vet managed to remove the tumour with good margins and thankfully no further treatment, she’s now 17 mths cancer free.
I know it’s a different cancer but if it can be removed please do it and she is young enough to manage chemo, don’t make any quick decisions, get all the info, take notes.
Best of luck 🐶🥰

Ddogs manage chemo very well I believe. Not like the human reactions. My ddog got a brain tumour a year post mammary tumour. She had personality changes that were posing a danger to us.. We made the decision to pts.
We are holding a memorial on the 29th which was her birthday..

@stockpilingallthecheese, I'm really glad your ddog had a positive outcome

@SBTLove, that's fantastic. I really hope your ddog stays well. Unfortunately I don't think this (suspected) cancer is very responsive to chemo.

I'm so sorry to hear this but do wait until you know what you are dealing with. My golden retriever has a mast cell tumour in her eyelid, diagnosed when she was only just 3. We were told that it would probably be in her liver, lungs etc because of the nature of the tumour and her age, but all the tests showed she was clear bar the eye. She's just finished her chemo and is fine, although it is likely that she may get more tumours as she ages. For the moment, she is loving life and still behaves like a lunatic even though she's almost 6. I really hope that you also have a similarly positive outcome. 🙏🤞

So sad to read your post OP.

I posted on here almost every day for a year, got all the support I needed when I found out my young dog also had a possible cancer diagnosis like your gorgeous baby.

We didn’t get the outcome we so desperately hoped for, I needed counselling because of the sheer shock of how suddenly it happened.

We couldn’t go for chemo or removal because of where it was.

I am desperately hoping you all get to enjoy each other for so much longer 🙏

InfertlitySukkks - I know how you feel and I am still very wobbly. People think oh, it’s only a dog, but he was the heart of our home. I ordered a large picture of him to hang in pride of place on the wall, but it’s making us all feel worse!

@Panicmode1, wishing your ddog all the best of luck. Hopefully if there are any more tumours, they won't appear until she's much older

@InfertilitySukkks, I'm so sorry. This is so sad.

Still no news.

I think I would be tempted to phone the receptionist and ask when they are likely to get the results back.

@BiteyShark, I did this afternoon and the results are back, but the receptionist said she wasn't clinical enough to try and interpret and she didn't want to give me any false information. Currently waiting for a call from the vet to explain, but apparently she only came on at 5 and I expect she's very busy.

I'm impatient at the best of times, so you can imagine how I'm handling this.

It must be torture for you OP, it seems very cruel to make you wait like this. I hope it is good news when you get it. Thinking of you and sorry for all the pp's who have lost their animals, it's so hard I know